Braai the perfect fillet (and make a delicious mushroom sauce) with Jan Braai

National Braai Day, held every year on 24 September to coincide with Heritage Day, is a celebration of a South African tradition in which 15-20 million people participate.

In honour of Braai Day’s 20th anniversary, Jan Braai has put together more than 200 recipes that can be cooked over and enjoyed alongside the coals of a wood fire.

Atmosfire is an all-encompassing guide to everything Jan Braai knows about braaing, with clear instructions and a no-nonsense attitude to the art of braai that will ensure that even newbie braaiers will easily pull off these recipes.

Read more: Ode to the humble braaibroodjie

Atmosfire includes recipes for traditional favourites such as classic potjies, steaks, burgers and ribs, to less conventional dishes prepared on the braai, including pasta, pizza, salads and desserts.

The book has something for everyone. Readily available ingredients mean it’s a breeze to put the meals together, as most items are probably on hand already, or can be sourced with minimal effort or a quick trip to the supermarket.

Fillet steak with mushroom sauce

A fillet is the most tender of all steaks due to the muscle’s location on the beef carcass. It is situated on the belly side of the spine and thus does very little exercise during the animal’s life. It is a lean, boneless cut and contains almost no fat. On the negative side, it is not the most flavoursome steak and tends to dry out quickly.

Overcooking is your greatest risk when braaing a fillet. Some people like to braai fillet steaks whole and slice them afterwards, but I prefer to cut the fillet beforehand and braai single medallion portions. This exposes a greater surface area of the meat to the searing heat of the fire, which adds more flavour, something fillet steak needs.

The steaks should be cut fairly thick to have a nice, juicy, medium-rare inside while being completely seared and sealed on the outside. To achieve this, fillet steaks need to be braaied on extremely high heat. Eating fillet steak is not a challenging or complex matter as it’s so tender and has no sinews, skin or bones. It is a very comfortable and familiar meal that I like to pair with mushroom sauce.

You can go to town with mushroom sauce, but I like an honest, dependable, classic, no-nonsense mushroom sauce with fillet steak. It is as easy to make as it is to braai fillet medallions and it’s as familiar and comfortable to eat as the steak we’re serving it with.

What you need (feeds 4) 

1 kg piece of fillet steak
salt and pepper

For the sauce

1 onion
1 punnet mushrooms (250g)
1 knob butter
1 tsp salt
1 tub cream cheese
1 cup fresh cream
1 tot soy sauce
1 tsp black pepper
2 sprigs fresh thyme

What to do 

Make a very big fire. Bigger is better.

Take the steak out of the fridge 30 minutes before the braai so that it can come to room temperature. Remove the steak from its packaging, wash it under cold running water and pat dry with kitchen paper.

Now use a sharp knife and cut the fillet into four equal portions, which on a 1kg steak should mean fillet medallions of around 5cm thick. A fillet medallion works well in the region of 200-300g, so if the whole piece of fillet is much bigger than 1kg, make more medallions. Add salt and pepper to all sides of each steak.

Make the sauce: Chop the onion and mushrooms. Add the butter, onion, mushrooms and salt to a pan and fry until the onions are golden. If the mushrooms release their water during this time, let it cook off, and if they don’t, then don’t worry, this will happen later.

Add the cream cheese, cream, soy sauce, pepper and thyme. Mix well and let this simmer until the sauce is thickened to your liking. Taste and add extra salt and pepper if needed. Set aside, and reheat the sauce just before serving.

Braai the steaks over extremely hot coals for 8-10 minutes, making sure that all sides of each steak face the coals for at least one minute at a time. A 5cm-thick fillet steak will have at least four, but possibly six sides.

Remove from the fire and serve with the mushroom sauce. This can be done in several ways — I like to pack the medallions into the pan with the mushroom sauce as it looks pretty and saves on washing another platter. DM

Atmosfire by Jan Braai is published by Penguin Random House SA (R590). Visit The Reading List for South African book news — including recipes! — daily.